NCIFT Executive Committee Meeting

NCIFT Executive Committee Meeting

Minutes

August 7, 2008

Location: Home of Maria Vargas, 753 Old Stable Place, Walnut Creek, CA

Present: Carolyn Coughlin, Chair (’07-’08); Mary Palumbo, Chair-elect (’08-’09) and Career Guidance Committee Chair; Eric Wilhelmsen, Past Chair (’07-’08) and Finance Committee Chair; Maria Vargas, Treasurer (’08-’09); Sam Adapa, Member-at-Large (’07-’09); Amanda Lathrop, Member-at-Large (’08-’10); Dan Wisenhunt, CVIFT Chair-Elect (’08-’09); Earl Weak, Nominating Committee (’07-’09); Yildiz Karaibrahimoglu, Nominating Committee (’07-’09); Marty Potnick, Co-Chair Golf Tournament and Suppliers’ Night.

The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:15 p.m.

Minutes of the meeting of June 5, 2008, had been approved by e-mail.

Committee Reports

Program: Mary Palumbo reported that the September 25th meeting will be at Scott’s Seafood Restaurant in Walnut Creek. Pam Vaillancourt will speak on the topic “Little Things that Make a Big Difference at Home and at Work”. Past Chairs will be invited as guests of the Section and will be recognized at the meeting. The dinner price will be $40 for members, and $25 for Emeritus members and students. Members will be able to make reservations on-line using credit cards for the first time. The Holiday Party will be December 4th at Wente Vineyards. Dr. John Bruhn will speak on California Specialty Cheeses. The CLFP Luncheon is February 3, 2009. A speaker has not yet been selected, but will probably be a Distinguished Lecturer from IFT. Some discussion ensued on meeting location and program to attract and retain members, and where our members of the future are located. Growth areas are in the Central Valley more than in the Bay Area. Tracy is a geographically central location for a meeting, but traffic from the west to Tracy is difficult for an evening meeting.

Treasurer: Maria Vargas reported that signatures have been changed over for the checking and savings accounts. NCIFT will now have two accounts rather than four accounts. Financial records will be kept in QuickBooks, which will make financial reporting easier.

Finance Committee: Eric Wilhelmsen reported that his committee will be looking at the effects of accepting charge cards through the website. Merchant accounts cost about $70/month. Ours was set up prior to Suppliers’ Night in May 2008. The per transaction charge is about $1.25, which is a large percentage of our dues, but a much smaller percentage for Suppliers’ Night space or dinners. Eric pointed out that the fees are different for different charge cards, with American Express the most expensive. We hope to decrease the number of unpaid no-shows by using the on-line charge. Eric also reported that the rates quoted to file NCIFT taxes were from $1000 to $6000, and audits were similarly expensive. We need to get our tax returns up to date.

CVIFT: Dan Whisenhunt reported that the Mini-Suppliers Night will be October 23 at Hilmar Cheese. Dan, Stacy Hawley, and Vina are going to try to get some companies interested that are not currently represented, with a goal to increase membership.

Career Guidance: Mary Palumbo reported that activities are wrapped up for this year, and will need to begin again in December or January when e-mails are sent to Special Awards Chairs at the six fairs where we give awards. Also at this time, a message is sent via listserv to members soliciting judges. An article was submitted to the Hornblower soliciting a new chair for this committee. Dan suggested asking Emeritus members to take on this responsibility.

Suppliers’ Night: Marty Potnick reported that Suppliers’ Night expense report has been completed and the event was very successful. Expenses were lower than in Oakland, and the location was user-friendly. Less money was spent for speakers than in the last two years because having well-known speakers was not increasing traffic for the suppliers. The suppliers were pleased with the event. The date for next year is still under discussion. The committee does not want it to be too close to national IFT (June 6-10, 2009, in Anaheim). A fall date was discussed, but is probably not advisable because of potential conflicts.

Eric Wilhelmsen was presented with a plaque for the Member of the Year Award, and thanked for his efforts on behalf of NCIFT.

Carolyn Coughlin and Rick Falkenberg will be working to fill Committee Chair slots, especially Travel Grants and Career Guidance.

Maria Vargas was thanked for hosting the meeting in her lovely home.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Palumbo

Acting secretary